The professional life of one of Savile Row’s best known characters has been captured in this book. Now Chairman of Dege & Skinner and a Master Cutter, Michael Skinner’s career started in 1952 when he joined the family firm as an 18 year old and he has since trained a great number of the bespoke tailors currently plying their trade on the Row. Told through his craft – tailoring patterns and written ‘in conversation’ with Michael by author Hormazd Narielwalla, the book provides a fascinating insight into the life and work of a Master Tailor who has been at the forefront of bespoke tailoring for more than 50 years.
Dressing Royalty and some of the most distinguished and stylish gentlemen around the world, the book features anecdotes and photographs collected during the firm’s long and illustrious history; the launch into the Japanese market, tales of actress Joanna Lumley and her beloved Dege ‘knickers’ and 1960’s band The Kinks. In fact, Michael may be the only Master Cutter in the world to have designed uniforms for a camel pipe band, although he does comment, “they were not the easiest things to measure, alternating between spitting and kicking”!

Bene Factum Publishing, an independent British non-fiction publisher, published ‘The Savile Row Cutter’ in August 2011.